


Love's Ransom

by Calleva



Category: Aethelflaed/Erik - Fandom, Aethelrik - Fandom, The Last Kingdom (TV), The Warrior Chronicles | The Saxon Stories - Bernard Cornwell
Genre: Alternative Universe - The Last Kingdom TV, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-18
Updated: 2017-07-18
Packaged: 2018-12-03 19:39:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11539095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Calleva/pseuds/Calleva
Summary: Erik Thurgilson is on cloud nine thinking of his girlfriend, but his brother has other ideas. Their plans are very different, but only one of them can succeed. Can Aethelflaed find the strength she will need to survive the cage? And how can she persuade her father the king that her happiness lies with the Viking who had planned her kidnap?





	Love's Ransom

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sandra H Murphy](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Sandra+H+Murphy).



"WHERE. IS. SHE?"

But no one was telling him. He tried to stem the rising anger and panic, to think clearly. What could have happened to her? Think, Erik, think. That's what you do, what you are good at....

Moments ago he had seemed to walk on air. Wrapped in his private thoughts and with a secretive smile he had made his way to her cell in the stables. They hadn't been able to spend last night together but he had used the time alone to plan their next meeting. For one thing, he was ready for her arms again with an anticipation made sweeter by absence, and for another, he had been thinking of something new to delight her. Something that would make her eyes widen with surprise, followed by a gasp of pleasure. Under his heavy clothing he was already stiffening with expectation.

The cell door was open and she wasn't there.

And they weren't telling him where she was. He hurried to the great hall, pushing past people, shoving them angrily aside, not caring how many bruises he inflicted or what they thought of him. She had been his woman and under his protection. 

Oh gods. No.

The huge crowd of fighters stood in a great press around the centre of the hall, from where a metal cage was being hoisted under the rafters. Along the high walkway his brother and Haesten glowed with satisfaction. "She belongs to us all!" cried a jubilant Sigefrid.

Inside the cage was his precious Aethelflaed. She was clinging to the bars, her face a mask of terror and grief. Her long hair fell in rough tangles, as if she had put up a fight. How could they do this to a woman? The last occupant had been a thief, being punished before execution. Aethelflaed had done nothing wrong. The jeering and cat calls sounded around him, but he barely heard anything. Staring up at her, he pushed to the front of the crowd. Their eyes met, hers pleading, desperate; his angry, resolute. Their gaze locked until nothing in that place seemed real except for the two of them. 

Separate. Apart. He had seconds to think of something before his agony became apparent. Sigefrid wouldn't care, he was exultant, thinking of the great ransom which would buy his army, but Haesten would notice. He was cunning and he must have also have known that Erik wasn't simply using the Saxon princess for his own pleasure. That she was not a claimed prize. That they were lovers.

A wetness on his cheek.... Its coldness brought him back to this dreadful place. And slowly, as it ran down his face he realised that it was a teardrop, but not his own. He gazed up at his distraught lover and saw her face was wet with crying.

A single tear, the only part of her that could reach him.

He let it dry on his face and resolved not to wash it away until he held her in his arms again.

______

The frightened Saxon woman flinched as Erik grasped her arm and claimed her for his exclusive use. Watching from her iron prison, Aethelflaed realised that this was a ruse to convince Sigefrid and Haesten that Erik really had no tender feelings for herself. But still it hurt, and the tears came and fell to the ground unheeded. While she sobbed, Erik half dragged his new conquest from the hall. Aethelflaed sat back, her face in her hands. It was always the same when Erik left, that feeling of emptiness. He had such life, such energy, and he had become her world, the reason she breathed. Had he become her god? No, it wasn't that - she found she could pray and still believe in an all-powerful God who made the world and loved it. And the world wasn't exactly kind to His Son, was it? She would trust in God anyway, even if it meant she would lose her life, which suddenly seemed so much less terrible than losing Erik. 

From the vantage point on the hillside, among the trees, Uhtred watched the army of men as it snaked its cumbersome way towards Beamfleot. A king's ransom for a king's daughter. Gold and silver in massive chests. He looked over at his brother "As agreed, a portion is yours if we recover the princess, the rest we return to the king," Then he spurred his horse down the hill to join the Saxon party.  
Ragnar nodded. Over three hundred battle hardened men waited silently behind him, but even if the Beamfleot spies were aware of them, it would be assumed that an army of Danes was focused solely on treasure.

Aethelred's guard was large enough to fend off Ragnar's men so he had ignored them, and with banners waving, he entered the Viking stronghold.

With all the new commotion, not many noticed the slim young fighter walking along the high gallery in the great hall and speaking to the prisoner. It was assumed he was just a guard. Nor did anyone notice as he slipped from his pocket a length of thin metal, such as was used to repair chain mail. Kjartan's son had many skills, and forcing locks was one of them. "The lady is to be made ready for her long journey" he explained to a guard as he led her down. A few seconds later, a silent and subdued young woman in a thick travelling cloak was led back up the stairs and entered the cruel prison. She sat down and buried her face in her hands.

Beamfleot had a small exit point used mainly by women going to draw water. Uhtred and the few men with him overcame the guards there and opened the gate. With Ragnar's men and the Saxon fighters, there would be a short battle to reclaim the treasure. 

No one noticed two figures leaving in the other direction.

"I have fulfilled my King's side of the agreement, I would see my wife now. " Aethelred said in a loud voice. Sigefrid's deep tones responded, "It was agreed you would kneel, I want to see you kneel first."  
Aethelred knelt.  
"So the pig's arse returns for his woman.... " A low laugh, "Haesten, get her. I'm sure he is most impatient to see his bride" the elder Thurgilson brother mocked.

Moments later a slight, hooded figure stood before the Saxon earl. He rose to his feet and tentatively walked towards her, "My dear.." he said emotionlessly as he pulled back her hood.

It wasn't Aethelflaed but the young woman whom Erik had claimed.

"You cheated me! No Aethelflaed, no treasure!"  
"You seem more interested in your treasure than your woman..." observed Sigefrid, "How very Danish of you..."

At this point there was a shout and swords were drawn. 

The battle was short, and decisive.  
___

Wintanceaster! She still regarded it as her home. The place where she had been so happy before her marriage to Aethelred. Now Aethelred was no more, killed at Beamfleot, with most of the treasure restored. For that they had Uhtred to thank but still her father was not quite happy - just under one third was missing, but at least it was not enough to ruin the king, to force him to flee abroad...

She faced him now in his own hall. He looked smaller, more careworn, worry lines deeply etched on his brow. He had clearly suffered greatly after the kidnap. He embraced her at length. She felt his warmth and the flood of relief as his arms closed around her. He was also thinner, she realised. Or was it just that she was used to the weight of Erik's strong arms?

They spoke of her ordeal and the final battle, and a lot more besides.  
"I am so sorry about Aethelred," he said, shaking his head "but if you are willing, you can rule Mercia alone for me, as we had spoken of."  
Again that thought of the Kingdom, the sacrifice. She took a deep breath and spoke up, the months of loneliness in her loveless marriage had made her strong. The weeks as a prisoner of the Danes, ending up in the terrible cage had put iron into her soul.  
"I will do so gladly, for you and our vision of a united England" she said softly. "But I must have a guarantee from you first." He tilted his head, his eyes curious but lit by love and pride in his eldest child.

"I want full authority in your name as King to make and enforce my decisions in Mercia. I want this so the Mercian council will accept your rule through myself."  
"Agreed" he nodded; it was reasonable. "But of course you won't go to war without direct authority from my hand."  
"No of course I won't - I want the ability to enforce the rule of law. And one other thing..... If I re-marry, it must be to a man of my choosing. I am not sure it should be a Mercian as this would unbalance interests too much in favour of one party. So I must ask of you to let me choose a husband for myself, a man I can respect and love as my mother cares for you. Or I remain unwed. But should I find someone he would not have the authority you have given to me."

Alfred smiled tightly. His daughter was not such a fool as to see that power and choice in marriage could never be fully separated. Now she was promising him that her affections would not blind her to her duty. He understood that her marriage had not been a personal success. "You have my consent Aethelflaed," he said softly, saying her name as if it were a caress.

Dear Father! He had given her the authority she needed to rule Mercia for the rest of her life. The first thing she would do would be to bring Erik from Dunholm and make him an earl. He would be granted a stronghold and lands, a home they would share away from the court and its intrigues. He would have his own household and his own men around him and the hall would ring with music and laughter. He had never had a home of his own before but he would now, and she would create it for him out of their love and the children who would come. In time he would become her most trusted advisor, he would lead her army and they would start to forge England, Dane and Saxon together.

Earlier:

Hurrying from Beamfleot, Aethelflaed and Erik, swathed in hooded cloaks, mounted the waiting horses and headed for the longship, escorted by Uhtred's handpicked men. The ride seemed to take a long time but was in fact brief. The ship was light and fast. The ship's master gave the order to cast off and soon they were headed north, towards Dunholm. Erik moved up and down the ship, checking the rigging and talking to the men, taking control. Then he sat beside Aethelflaed, put an arm around her and pressed his head against hers. He longed to kiss her but this wasn't the place and he couldn't appear weak before these men. That reunion would come once they were safely inside Dunholm, and he would again show his Saxon princess how a Viking warlord made love to his woman. Once in bed, he would finally show her what he had planned the day she was taken from him and it would delight her. In a few days she would ride south to join her father and the plan she and Erik had made would unfold by Alfred's will and consent. He just didn't know it yet.

The clouds began to turn grey. Erik looked up as the rain started to fall, washing his face.

**Author's Note:**

> I realise that the battle for Beamfleot would not have been so simple - for one thing the meeting would probably have been outside the stronghold, no large group of armed men would have been allowed inside. But hey, they have Ragnar's men and it would have been significant.


End file.
